56 killed in Russia trawler capsize

At least 56 people died when a trawler with 132 people on board capsized off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East on Thursday

Moscow: At least 56 people died when a trawler with 132 people on board capsized off the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East on Thursday.

"Sixty-three survivors have been evacuated to the Andromeda ship from vessels that picked them up out of the water. The bodies of victims are now being taken on board. Some 38 bodies out of 56 have been handed over so far," a spokesman for the Russian emergencies ministry’s Far-Eastern regional centre told TASS news agency.

According to earlier reports, there were 78 Russian nationals on board the Dalniy Vostok trawler, as well as 54 foreign nationals from Myanmar, Ukraine, Lithuania and Vanuatu.

The trawler capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk, 330 km west of Krutogorovsky settlement in the Kamchatka region and 250 km south of the city of Magadan.

A total of 19 ships continued the search in the area for the wreckage of the Dalny Vostok trawler in the Sea of Okhotsk, the centre said.

Rescue teams searching for missing crew members have suspended operations until Friday morning and will resume the search early in the morning.